I wrote this letter to my children on a plane as we returned from a recent trip to Washington D.C. For as much as D.C. represents gridlock and cynical politics from a distance, in person it is also a city full of promise and optimism. It is my hope that my children will in their lifetimes not only see this type of promise and optimism realized, but be instrumental in bringing it to pass – a dream perhaps, but one that I work hard to cultivate in them. While this is my first post here in some time, there is nowhere else I would publish something of such personal significance to me. I share this publicly because my challenge to my children as individuals is a public one, meaningful only within the context of the community they belong to. I hope these words live somewhere into perpetuity, as a reminder to them of what they, like each of us, are called to.——————————————————————————————————————————————-

To my children Naomi and Theodore,

You are more privileged than you know. By being born to parents who value learning and whose own parents valued learning, you have the privilege of knowledge. By being born into this time and place in history, you have the privilege of unparalleled access to people and information. By having never felt personally the agony of starvation, war and material poverty… Continue Reading »

Like most everyone this weekend, my heart remains heavy with grief and confusion over the violence in Newtown, Connecticut. The answer to the question, “why,” is neither obvious nor simple, but to ask it seems the most human of responses to a tragedy of these proportions. In time, we will no doubt learn more about the killer’s circumstances, individual angst, and personal mental state. It is, I think, completely natural and logical to seek those details out in order to lend context to such deplorable actions. A larger question however, looms over our country, too often and too long dismissed and ignored in the public conversation. Continue Reading »

Like many of you, the growing Occupy Wall Street movement has gotten my attention. How can so many people be so dedicated to a cause that is – in my mind at least – still undefined? This much I’ve figured out – these so-called “99 percenters” seem to feel they’re being deprived of the American dream by the wealthiest members of our society. They, like most of us define that dream as the entitlement to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It’s hard to disagree with the dream, but what exactly does that mean, and how do we achieve it? It does seem sometimes like that last part of the dream has been redefined as the “Pursuit of Wealth.” Perhaps the events of the last five years have pretty clearly fingered Wall Street as a villain in our economic drama, but that’s hardly going to get us out of this mess. Who are the heroes that will save the day? Heroes make us feel safe, warm and fuzzy – happy. If we can figure out who the heroes are then maybe, just maybe, we can be happy. Continue Reading »

Class warfare – such a vivid phrase. It conjures up images of the poor rioting while the nobility revel in luxury, or perhaps of a guillotine neatly snipping off a jewel encrusted head. One segment of society pitted against another in a struggle for wealth, power and freedom. In Eugene Delecroix’s iconic painting of the French Revolution, bodies are strewn across the ground as smoke envelops 19th Century Paris.

Similar scenes play out daily on our televisions, but seem to always be broadcast from some far off place. What a terrifying thought that with the wrong fiscal policies, our great society could degenerate overnight, and our own streets and neighborhoods could be running with blood. Continue Reading »

Yeah, yeah, I know. I already blog here and here, and plenty of other places from time to time too. But I’ve created this site to be different – a place where I can share about the things that I cherish the most, worry about and think of most often.

Here are some of the things I plan to talk about:

My faith. It isn’t the faith I had in high school. It’s changing as I’m learning. Thank God for that.

My friends. You teach me so much, and I want to share some of the more poignant insights. I hope you’ll weigh in and tell me what you’d like to talk about – beat me around the ears once in a while.

Public policy – don’t leave! That’s not code for politics – you can get your hot air elsewhere. What I care about is real solutions to real problems.

Other stuff. It might be some noun (person, place or thing) I’m keen on for a day, or a project of some sort. Whatever it is, I’ll try to make it interesting.

I’ve installed the Disqus comment system to make it easy for you to respond to my blather – and I hope you will. I’m hoping it’s a place where we can have conversations, you and I – learn from each other and about each other. So don’t be shy. See you in the funny pages.

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My Promise

I commit to be as honest as I know how in my posts and my responses. I welcome your feedback, promise not stay mad at you for more than 5 minutes, and above all will never hold a grudge against you just because you are wrong.